


Hearthfire 2: Moonwaves

by BlueEyedArcher



Series: Outlast One-Shots [41]
Category: Outlast (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Aquariums, Fae & Fairies, Flowers, Fluff, Hearthfire Part 2, Human!Miles, M/M, Seals (Animals), Selkie!Chris, Selkies, merfolk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 04:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13227654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueEyedArcher/pseuds/BlueEyedArcher
Summary: Miles is a tour guide at the Mount Massive Aquarium where he informs the public about the aquatic and marine life that inhabit their world. He is also the caretaker for one special little seal he's been tending to for almost a year. Rehabilitating the poor guy after he was injured and uprooted from his coastal home. Unbeknownst to Miles, the seal he's been devoting all his time to has a secret and belongs to a family of Merfolk known as the Selkie.(Part two of the Hearthfire Universe: Moonwaves will touch on Miles and Chris' lives.)





	Hearthfire 2: Moonwaves

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the Merfolk rendition of the Hearthfire universe. At your guy's request. I hope you guys enjoy! Happy New Year and please leave a comment below if you want more of Moonwaves and Hearthfire.

“Welcome to the Mount Massive Aquarium!” A young male greeted the troves of tourists, come to see the aquatic creatures from around the world. His messy brunette locks hanging freely as he held up his touring sign with the group number on it. Ensuring the last of the stragglers could find their way. His emerald eyes sparkled as he gave his group a goofy cheerful grin. “How is everybody today?” There was a collective chorus of responses, all positive and mostly saying “good”. There were several little kids leading the front with their parents and a handful of college students and couples mixed in. “That’s good! My name is Miles Upshur, feel free to call me Miles if you like. I’ll be leading this group and showing you everything Mount Massive Aquarium has to offer. If anyone has questions, feel free to raise your hands and as we move throughout, I will be pointing out each notable area.”

 

To say Miles enjoyed his job was an understatement. He loved every second of it. The management wasn’t the best but he gets to spend the entire day talking to people from all over the place and hanging out with some of the coolest animals in Colorado. It was about the best gig he could find and he works a lot of hours mostly because he enjoys it. Even covering other people’s shifts if need be just to do some late nights there.  He went through exhibit after exhibit, the fresh water fish tanks, the Great Lake fish tanks, the sea life and the aquatic mammals and birds exhibits. It may not be part of the aquarium directly for fish but they were a direct link to the habitat and it was important to teach a bit of everything. There were alligator exhibits and penguins which everyone loved. The polar bear exhibit consisted of a handful of super lazy sleepy bears. There were crocodiles, gar and some other small aquatic lizards. Otters, beavers and muskrat and then finally, Miles favorite exhibit. The seals.

 

Now, it would be odd to exclaim it was his favorite because of the type of animal, but in truth, it was one specific seal that he adored. He was a lonely little fella, larger than the others with a pure white snowy coat. “Now this little guy, we call Chris. He came to us with the name already attached. He was originally living at a zoo in California before a forest fire threatened to take out the area. They had to evacuate and he got sent here.” The seal was a male, with big brown doe eyes that melted Miles heart on a daily basis. The seal seemed to know how to use them against his caretaker to make him melt on the spot.

 

“Now if you look closely, you’ll see he has a large scar up along his side and across his belly.” It was a pinkish jagged streak that broke through the pristine snowy white coloring, it was about two inches wide and moved along a foot and a half or so in length. “He was caught in a fisherman's net off the California coast. His side got caught by the boat propeller when they were trying to get him inside the boat. This wound has made it harder for him to go about some of his routine so he wasn’t able to return to the wild. On top of that, his breed is actually from up north near Scotland and Ireland. Where the water is much much colder and that thick fatty layer under his fur is needed.”

 

People watched through the viewing glass as they spied the seal and took pictures with their phones. Some were taking video and little kids were pressing against the glass or tapping on it. “Can you guys say hello to Chris?” He asked a cluster of children and counted down for them to announce their joy in unison to the seal. The creature bounced in place as if expressing it’s delight and slapped it’s fins together. It was an awkward motion with it’s scars but there wasn’t any pain in it’s expression. Miles gave Chris a smile and when the group was ready to move on, they all said goodbye.

 

It was a long day and Miles toured four different groups around the facility before he retired to the back rooms where his caretaker duties came into play. Most employees had an entire enclosure or two to watch over but Miles’ had only the seal enclosure. Specifically, Chris. He would personally tend to the seal each day, morning and night. He would clean the enclosure and check the cleanliness of their swimming area to ensure the filters were working properly. They had a special company that came regularly to clean the large aquarium tanks while the employees focused on the out of water pens.

 

Today was like any other, he put on a wet suit to do some swimming practice with Chris, carrying a bucket of frozen fish for their meal and heading into the enclosure. There was a large bright orange ball that sat by the door as Miles kicked it up and bopped it from knee to knee like he was playing soccer before bouncing it to Chris who bopped it back with his nose. Miles grinned as the seal barked happily to see him. ‘Hey there buddy. Thank you for being so good for me today.” He smiled and held a hand out to the creature. It moved closer and pressed it’s hand to his palm, rubbing up against it affectionately as Miles pat him on the head. “Such a good boy. Here you go.” He dug into the bucket and found the biggest fish he could muster from the back freezers and handed it to the seal, waiting for him to take it from his hand. The seal did so very gently, mindful of where Miles’ hand was and where the creature’s sharp teeth were. “Good boy. Such a gentleman.” The brunette cooed as he headed over to the pool to sit down on the edge. The other two seals had already returned to the sleeping enclosures for the night and he had fed them before coming in. This was always a special time Miles enjoyed the most about his job.

 

“Ready to go for a swim Chris? Huh?” The seal barked happily as it dragged it’s way over to the water’s edge, resting beside Miles’ side. His hand rubbed across the pink scarring sadly before he wrinkled his nose as the creature nudged it’s own cold wet nose against his cheek. He huffed out with a sound. “Fish breath!” He chuckled and pet it’s head, stroking his hand down along it’s smooth back. The seal went in first, sliding in with ease but not before giving it’s caretaker a slight splash with its tail.  Miles followed suit and left the bucket on the very edge of the pool. The pool would only go down about 10 feet and the visitors can see them through the glass down below so they were always in sight. Chris never went into the water though unless Miles was swimming with him. Miles had heard before they got Chris, that he wouldn’t enter water of any depth deeper than 4 feet at all. He seemed hesitant and depressed after his injury and didn’t seem to trust it. Miles spent the first couple months getting Chris to trust him before they worked on entering wading pools and soon were able to start these daily swims each evening after Chris’ feeding time.

 

It was a long hard won process full of baby steps and small successes but each one was worth it in the end and Miles looked forward to his end of the day swim with his big cuddly seal friend. When he was prepared to slip into the water, he shivered at the colder temperature and took a few deep breaths before diving under. His eyes adjusted easily with the lights above shining in. His eyes roamed around the water, looking for Chris when he felt something press up against his back, the seal had placed a fin on Miles’ shoulder, signalling for him to wrap his arms around him and be towed through the water. The brunette turned and pressed his belly against the seal’s and let Chris take over. When they first started their swimming exercises, Chris was weak and much smaller than he is now. He had gained a considerable amount of muscle and weight over time and was now almost twice his previous size. The right size for a seal of his kind to be at this age.

 

When it was time for Miles to get fresh air, he patted the side of Chris’ whiskered face gently and the seal turned upwards towards the surface. Breaking it for a brief minute or so until Miles was ready to go back down. Rubbing along the large neck to tell Chris he was okay now. The seal dove down carefully, making certain not to harm it’s human companion. Once they were deep enough, Chris’ tail touching the bottom of the pool, he floated upright in place, using his fins to hover in place, making Miles stare confused at the snowy coated creature. His brunette locks floating gently in the water as those big brown doe eyes looked determined. The snowy coat started to glow and bubbles formed around the seal.

 

They crystallized, rising up to the surface to break open, spreading beautiful blue petals like a blossom opening up. They floated on the surface, glowing with a pale silvery blue moonlight, casting down over them. Miles’ eyes widened in confusion as the white fur coat slipped away and the body around it molded to a human form, like he was draped in an over sized cloak the entire time. A man with long shaggy brown hair floating around his head in the soft gentle current of the pool. His body was much larger than Miles’, muscular and strong and almost a good foot taller than him at least. Miles jerked back away from the male, strong arms wrapped around his torso but the young caretaker put his hands against its chest to push away. Fingers slipping over the rippling muscle and running along the long scar across the male’s belly and up his rib cage. Some of it even curled towards his back and shoulders. Extending it’s large pink streak against pale flesh.

 

All the air fled Miles’ chest in a gurgled sound of surprise. He didn’t realize his mistake until his oxygen was gone and he was scrambling to get away from the being in front of him, to reach the surface. The man never once let go, his brown doe eyes softened with concern as the muscular body began swimming up to the surface, kicking with both legs until they broke through. The arms remained around Miles’ waist, hovering there in the pool with the glowing blossoms, like lotus flowers swirling on the surface, dancing around them with the ripples and flow of the pool water. Miles coughed and squirmed, reaching a hand up to rub at his eyes and face, slicking the dark messy locks out of his eyes as emerald orbs stared up in disbelief and fear. Taking in the firm square jaw and the broad shoulders of the being. He was massive and bulky but held a warmth to his eyes that Miles recognized in the seal he had taken care of for nearly a year now.

 

“Chr- uh...Chris?” He asked hesitantly once he caught his breath. His eyes searching the other’s gaze. A large smile spread across the man’s lips as he pulled him up closer and hugged him tighter. It was of bear hug proportions as they floated there. Miles didn’t know which was going to do him in first, being crushed by this man or nearly drowning. “...breath...ca-ah breathe…” He patted the male’s massive biceps quickly and released a sigh when he was freed from the vice grip. The man wasn’t big as in fat but resembled more of those drill sergeant army head types. Like Captain America after the serum. Miles currently felt like Steve Rogers, before the serum in comparison. “Can you...uh...can you speak?” He asked hesitantly, seeing the male’s grin widen to flash the sharp teeth behind his lips as they pulled and curled up into an unnerving smile.

 

It was unsettling to see teeth like that in a human mouth but he figured he could get used to it. Along with….everything else. “I need to get out of the pool.” Miles informed, pushing on the larger male’s shoulders again and gesturing towards the shore. The male followed his gestures before nodding and swimming him over to the edge. He helped Miles out of the water first then pulled himself up onto the surface, showing off his long muscular legs and his...nudity. On the inside of his elbow, he had a white fur mass hanging on his arm. It was soaking wet and from where Miles could see, it looked like seal skin. Chris knelt down on the edge of the pool and reached out to gently scoop up one of the flowers, holding it close to his chest as the light grew brighter, the scarring on his body reflecting it with a silvery shine. His deep brown eyes lighting up briefly before he handed the flower over to Miles, urging him to take it before he gave out a bark like sound formed crudely into human speech. “For...you….” His cheeks flushed in embarrassment as the bark startled the young man but Miles accepted the flower into his hold. It was surprisingly cool to the touch. As their fingers overlapped to take it, the flower released a sweet scent between them that permeated their surroundings. Chris’ flush deepened and Miles felt a tug in his chest as he took the flower into his own hands, cradling it gingerly.

 

He watched the other flowers behind Chris close up and sink to the bottom of the pool like small bobbers going under one by one. But the one in his hands remained as bright and vibrant as can be. “Miles…” The voice barked, drawing the emerald eyes up in time to see Chris lean down close and peck him on the cheek affectionately. “Thank you.” His voice was gruff, a growl edging it but he was slowly getting better the more he used it. Miles placed a hand on his cheek and gently touched the spot as he looked between the flower in his hand and Chris in bewilderment. Not really sure how to make sense of the situation. That seemed to sort itself out for the moment as a dizzying wave rushed over him, making him lean to try and sit down somewhere. Very nearly falling back into the water of the pool when Chris lunged forward and caught him in his strong embrace but his hold was gentle and careful, pulling him close to his chest and running his fingers through the soft damp brown locks. Mimicking the affectionate touches Miles had always displayed towards him when he was in his other form. He crooned softly to the smaller male and pressed their foreheads together, closing his eyes as Miles’ own emerald orbs slipped shut. Giving his brain a time out before things get even weirder.


End file.
